PROCESS ECOLOGICAL ETHICS
Gregory James Moses 
Consultation on Religion and the Environment, Adelaide 1997



Introduction

A Consultation on Religion and the Environment could do with one 
paper at least from within the broad tradition of Process or Process 
Relational Thinking.  After all, the Process tradition has rather strong 
credentials in ecological thinking, within Christian theology and in the 
cross-religions dialogue especially with Buddhism.  John Cobb, the 
foremost living process person after Charles Hartshorne, for example, 
is quite strong in all three, and there are lots of others with strength in 
one or other area (see References) and also some ecofeminist 
theologians e.g. Marjorie Suchocki.  The following paper has the aim of 
adding this tradition as a voice in the dialogue in which this 
Consultation consists.

Process Ecological Ethics is based in a broad metaphysical vision, a 
characteristic which it shares with the ethics of Spinoza or that of Deep 
Ecology (esp. Arne Naess).  A major part of the paper will need to be 
spent on explaining this Process Relational metaphysical vision, with 
due regard to significant variations among process thinkers.  We can 
then make a passage from metaphysics to ethics, look at some of the 
typical characteristics of Process Ecological Ethics and finally turn our 
attention to questions of implementation in practice.